RAPID: A high-speed infrared detector

This picture shows the first prototype of RAPID, a new generation of fast and very sensitive detectors that has been successfully installed on the PIONIER instrument at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. This achievement is the result of five years of sustained collaboration and effort from academic institutes (LETI, ONERA, IPAG, LAM) and industrial partners (SOFRADIR).

As its name suggests, the new RAPID system delivers several thousand images per second and can operate at very low light levels.